Harney & Sons Tea Tasting: Hojicha

I think this is a really cool photo!  I like how the small glass teapot has steamed up and framed the steeping stalks.

Hojicha - This tea is a novelty.  In the world of tea, many things are old, ancient.  Tea has been consumed a looong time.  Yet hojicha is relatively new on the tea scene.  It was created as a by-product of mechanized tea picking (which began in the '20s).  The leaves get used for bancha and sencha, the twigs remain, and that's what this is - twigs of tea.  This tea is roasted over charcoal.  Very different from its steam-fired Japanese green cousins, and an entirely different flavor and aroma profile.  

I'm drawn to the metaphor that is offered to us in each sip.  I like how the creators of this tea looked for a way to use the leftover materials, what many people would throw away, and make them into something useful. 

In his tasting book, Michael Harney recommends this tea as a good one for coffee drinkers. While I don't drink coffee, I understand the comparison. It's darkly roasted in flavor and color. What I found most interesting is the sweet aftertaste and very dry tongue feeling.


Hojicha is not very known to those of us in the US. If you get the chance to try it, do!

Harney & Sons Tea Tasting: Genmaicha

Today's tea review is Genmaicha, also known as brown rice tea or "popcorn" tea.  There is rice in this tea, but no popcorn.  That nickname comes from a "popped" kernel of rice that really does look like popcorn!

I regret that I don't have my own photo for this review.  I should!  Heaven knows I have sipped my fair share of this tea.  (I brew at ~190 degrees for about 2 minutes.)  But I don't have any on had at this moment...and I want to move along in the book, so here's a shot from wikipedia.

In my opinion, this tea is a fun one, and a great one for new green tea drinkers.  I say that because of the inclusion of toasted brown rice, which gives the tea a nutty, gentle flavor that balances the stronger bancha (or sometimes sencha) green.

From Harney's website:  "Once considered a cheap peasant beverage, Genmaicha has recently come into vogue among Japanese urban elite and in the United States as a health drink."

If you drink this tea, what do you like about it?

Pretty

When my niece was born and I met her for the first time, I whispered in her ear what I knew to be true,  "You're amazing.  You are smart and strong and creative.  You are compassionate and kind and giving."  I also told her she was pretty, but I tried then - and continue trying - to make that subservient to far more important qualities. 

Today I found this recording of Katie Makkai at a poetry slam and watched it three times.  I hope you will, too.  

"The word pretty is unworthy of everything you will be...you will never be merely pretty."

A Horrible Cup of Tea

I had a horrible cup of tea yesterday, and it was made by none other than yours truly. The root cause: I was in a hurry.  It unfolded like this....

2 minutes between meetings, dash to the break room.
Get hot water and grab the first teabag I can get my hands on (Stash white/green blend). I don't normally drink tea bags - I have my own "stash" of loose tea, but I was in a hurry.

Steep tea for all of 15 seconds thinking, "I'm going to be late."  Toss teabag because I don't want oversteeped tea.  I'm in a hurry.

Toss in two ice cubes from the soda machine because I'm thirsty,  I'm in a hurry, and I don't have time to wait for it to cool.

Discover that tea is truly horrible.  Proceed to office anyway.  I'm in a hurry.

Join phone meeting a little late.  Try to calm myself by sipping horrible tea.  Cough and make faces.  Be grateful that I'm on the phone and not in person.  Push horrible tea to back of desk.   

Finish meeting without tea.  Finish day without tea.  Remind self - being in a hurry yields nothing but horrible tea!

Exploring the Wide Range of Tea

A favorite thing among favorites at the NW Tea Festival was participating in the many varied tea tastings.  Offered by experts also in love with tea, these tastings allowed for a deep appreciation of a particular tea category- be it type of tea, country, processing technique, etc.

The photo above is from the Aged Chinese Tea tasting, led by Charles & Laurie Dawson.  In many cases, tea is best when it's not allowed to get old and stale.  However, in the hands of a master tea maker, some teas can be very special when intentionally aged.  That's what we explored in this tasting.  We tried an aged Bai Mu Dan (white), an aged Ti Kuan Yin, a basket-roasted Liu An (a new tea to me - similar to but distinct from a Pu-Erh), and young and old Pu-Erh.  The teas were prepared in gaiwans, using a lot of leaf for a fast infusion.

Next I attended an exploration of Korean teas and tisanes, led by Yoon Hee Kim.  Unfortunately, I don't have any photos from this excellent tea tasting. I wish I could show you the tea ware.  The Korean tea equipage was marked by the use of a water cooling bowl.  A person experienced with this style of brewing uses the palm pressed against the bowl to gauge the right temperature.  Many scholars believe that Korean tea practices were an influence in the formation of Japanese tea culture.  In this tasting, we sampled wild golden mini chrysanthemum (tisane), mulberry leaf (tisane), an organic spring green, and hydrangea (tisane - very sweet!).

Brett Boynton (of the Seattle Tea Cup) led this tasting, which focused on Sri Lanka (Ceylon) teas.  We tasted two teas from different estates, one from each of the main tea-producing regions.  I was reminded that Sri Lanka is the world's biggest exporter of tea.  It's number three in production, but other countries drink a lot of their own tea, reducing the export volume.

Jennifer Sauer, of Bon Teavant, led us through a comparison of spring v winter oolongs.  I loved her vivid descriptions of spring oolongs being like a teenage girl, and winter like a mature woman.  We tasted spring/winter baozhong (see above - notice the color difference) and spring/winter dong ding (yes, that's really the name).

You might recognize the gent on the left, James Norwood Pratt. He partnered with Jason Chen, author of A Tea Lover's Travel Diary, to lead a tasting of two special teas, Phoenix Oolong (single tree) and Ti Kuan Yin.  These two worked well together, sharing stories, information and good humor.  It was a fabulous way to end the tea festival.

As I walked away from the event, I told my traveling companions that I felt euphoric.  If you apply the drug formula - the drug (tea and lots of it), the human, and the setting -  I think you'll understand why!  

NW Tea Fest: Exhibit Hall

A very fun part of the NW Tea Festival was visiting with the vendors at the Exhibit Hall.  The offerings ranged from high-end teas to tea equipage, chocolates and cookies, teapots and cozies, and more.  Here is a list of the vendors and below are just a few snapshots...

Tea Lady of Olympia, Washington

 The Tea Ladies had an interesting and colorful array of tea pots, kettles and cups.  I loved the little white porcelain cups with rubber nubs in bright colors.

High-quality teas available for tasting

 It was fun to talk to the vendors and learn about what they offered.  Here, a rep from SA Japanese Green.

 A new product soon to be on shelves from Tao of Tea.  I really liked the RTD (ready-to-drink) Tulsi.

Otaku Tea

Otaku Tea is reaching out to new tea markets. From the program materials, "Otaku Tea is focused on making tea for the steampunk and cyber punk sub-culture. Gamers, Anime Fans and Geeks Welcome." Read more about steampunk, if you're interested.  I love innovation and wish this company all the best!

Lots to Say, Little Time

 Me, happy at the NW Tea Festival in Seattle

I spent last weekend at the NW Tea Festival and had an amazing time!  I have several days of pictures and content to share, but am currently on a work trip with limited time.  Let me just summarize by saying it was fabulous! 

One highlight was hearing James Norwood Pratt read from his upcoming book.  Other exciting moments include the many tea tastings, especially the aged Chinese teas and Korean teas, the visits to Seattle tea spots and especially spending time with other tea lovers.  More to come soon!

Tea Party with Garden Bounty

 I recently shared an evening with a colleague, and we had tea.  It was my first British-style tea in the new place.  Fun!  I was eager to use some of the garden's bounty.  

My friend brought these gorgeous hydrangeas from her own garden.  Thank you!  I will let them dry and enjoy them through the winter.

 To start, we ate these little golden tomatoes (from the garden) as appetizers.  They are very sweet.  The larger, round yellow items are lemon cucumbers (garden), to be featured in a moment.

 I used rosemary from the garden, along with dried tomatoes that I had soaked in olive oil, to make a goat cheese spread.  I topped the lemon cucumbers with this blend and then garnished it with a leaf of garden basil.  Yumm.  I will definitely use this recipe again.

I served the savory course with a tart citrus herbal tisane.  It was evening and we wanted to avoid the caffeine.

I also made an egg salad, and meant to add a spicy cress (from the garden), but forgot that part, and so we had the cress as a post-party palate cleanser.  ;-) 

Then we had scones, jam and cream, and finished with chocolate, pears (local) and cheese.  With these courses, I served a rooibos blended with herbs.

It was a great evening, and I'm reminded how much I enjoy these small tea parties for two or three. They are easy to plan, prepare and enjoy.

A Wow Moment

I had one of those "wow" moments today.  I ran in my company's annual 5K race and did very well (4th woman overall).  I was surprised and pleased.  But that wasn't my wow moment.

As I was walking back to the office, I realized - or a better phrase is that I fully internalized -- that my body is amazing.  Of late, I haven't been loving it as completely as I should.  In fact, I've been frustrated with it.  I've noticed that it works a little differently than it has in the past, that things have changed.  I have more wrinkles, etc. etc. etc.  (For context: I'm 37.) And yet, I ran this race and my body performed soooo well when I pushed it.  My wow moment was when I realized that I need to love my body more fully.  I need to stop obsessing over a line here and a sag there and dark circles.  Focus instead on all the really cool things this body does for me, like taking me on great adventures.  That's what I want to teach my niece, too. 

Dye Job

Inspired by this Martha Stewart article, I spent part of a recent Saturday dip-dying anything I could get my hands on including plain white stationery and this linen fabric.  After dyeing, I tore the linen into the width I wanted and sewed a boundary line about 1/4 inch from the edge.  Then I frayed the edges, as shown below.  I love it!  (And I had enough extra linen from the yard I had purchased to make a wrap in the same style.)

While I was at it, I also dip-dyed  this plain white cotton knit shirt.

The dip-dying is easy.  The hard part is not making a mess.  I used a dish pan in my bathtub, and set up the clothes drying rack right next to it (with lots of newspaper underneath).  When it was time to rinse the fabric, I transferred into a stainless steel bowl, then to my stainless kitchen sink.  System worked pretty well.  Follow Martha's tips, and those on the package.  I used 1/2 a package of Rit powder dye (Royal blue) for all of these things and had lots left.

To get the gradations of color, I simply did a double-dip.  This project would be great for a crafty tween.  Oh, and since I did have to sew the boundary line, I'll count this as a sewing project for the September sewing month.  ;-)

Helen Gustafson

I've been reading Helen Gustafson's Green Tea User's Manual and am reminded how much I enjoyed her other book, The Agony of the Leaves: The Ecstasy of My Life with Tea.

What makes these tea books appealing, in my opinion, is not so much the tea information (tho it's useful) - similar tea info is found in many other books.  Rather, it's that Helen's personality shines through. She tells stories about her evolution as the tea buyer for Chez Panisse, that famed Alice Waters restaurant.  She has anecdotes about her efforts to bring tea, well-made tea, into being amidst the challenges of fast-paced restaurant demands.  My favorite story is about how she negotiated to get fresh water added to the kettles so the tea wouldn't be flat. 

Helen died in 2003.  Read a NYT tribute here.  Her spirit and passion for tea live on through her books, and I'm sure at Chez Panisse.  I hope to make it there some day and have a cup in her honor. 

How the OR Garden Grows...

We are part of a community garden in Oregon.  It's a 10-minute slow stroll from the house.  We often walk over after dinner.  We started with this in June.  Oregon gardeners in general got a late start this year, due to rain that continued longer into the season than normal.

What you are seeing above  is the "before" picture, but it's actually after the DH spent all day pulling weeks (the pile in the middle).  It's a 20x20 plot. 

Here's the garden plot today - lush and fruitful!  We have onions, lettuce, lemon cucumbers, zukes, squash, patty-pan squash, radish, kale, green beans and small yellow tomatoes.  And flowers.  And spinach, basil, cress.  And other stuff I'm forgetting.

And b/c if one garden is good, then two is better...we secured another 20x20 plot for the fall garden.  Lettuce, spinach, turnips, beets, chives, oh my!

Note: The "we" above works like this - the DH grows it and I love it (and eat it).

Pleading the Case for Libraries

Two library cards are now in my wallet.  I'm so lucky! 

My local (county) library is an easy bike ride from our place.  Part of the ride travels along a multipurpose trail, next to a pine grove and past a pond. 

There are walking/biking paths around this lovely pond (in the middle of a high-tech/light industrial area).  That building in the background is the library.  The process of getting here is special, and the library itself is great. 

Good news for me, I can *also* get a library card for the big one downtown (tho it's in a different county).  Of course I wanted both!  Yesterday I picked up the second card for Central Library.  It's of the old, grande dame style.

Beverly Cleary (author of the Beatrice and Ramona books) grew up in Oregon and spent many of her school years in Portland.

One rainy Sunday when I was in the third grade, I picked up a book to look at the pictures and discovered that even though I did not want to, I was reading. I have been a reader ever since.

-- Beverly Cleary

Now let me plead my case, please...

I try to keep this blog my "happy blog" - and therefore I avoid politics (usually). However, I will make an exception for libraries.

The only true equalisers in the world are books; the only treasure-house open to all comers is a library; the only wealth which will not decay is knowledge; the only jewel which you can carry beyond the grave is wisdom.

- J. A. Langford

Libraries open doors for all people, offer far more than than they receive, and take us on thousands of journey.  Some of us will have ballot motions this fall, asking us to pay a little more to support our local libraries. Please vote in support of your library.   

Reusable Snack Bags

Sweetcakes made these reusable snack/sandwich bags to match my new lunch bag.  They are lined with ripstop nylon and they close with Velcro.  Pretty cool, huh?  See her post on the topic for more info.

PS - Sept is National Sewing Month.  This is a great project in case you needed one.  ;-)

A Jeweled Frog

A fun weekend project!

On Saturday, The DH and I visited the local old-timey "Pharmacy" that still has an intact soda fountain.  It has milkshakes, burgers, cards, gifts and a lot of cool history.  I came home with three of these flower frogs.

I added some color and sparkle. 

Zinnias from our garden, Queen Anne's Lace from the vacant field.  I'm very fond of this!

The Ladies Grey and Wallis and Edward

I guess I've been on a British kick lately.
Last night, I talked the DH into watching the Wallis and Edward DVD with me.  I enjoyed it (speaking only for myself here).  That's not a part of history (British and American) I'm much acquainted with, so it was interesting and educational.  (I find the British monarchy a historical curiosity and at the same time ridiculous.)

I also just finished the book, The Sisters Who Would Be Queen.  The book was well researched and showed that love, religious strife and ambition played as much a role in the 1500s as they do today.  Set among the time prior to and during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, it tells the story of the Grey sisters who also had claims to the throne. I read it like a novel!

What are your favorite British works, either novels or historical pieces?

Fisher Fair Scone

Fisher Fair Scones

I had not heard of Fisher Fair Scones until I picked up the mix from my local grocer's aisle and read the info on the side of the box.  Apparently Fisher scones have been served at fairs and festivals in the NW since 1915.  Any of my NW friends out there have stories to tell about these?  I'd love to hear them!

The boxed mix turned out well.  All it took was the mix, some water and some extra flour for the hand work.  (Warning:  These make sticky dough!)  The scones were light and fluffy and sweet.  If you want to whip them up from scratch, check out the original 1930's recipe (from Labour of Love's blog).

What I'm Up To...

Enjoying some time exploring Oregon with Mom

A New Lunch Bag

Even though I'm no longer living in a college town, fall seems like a new start to me.  I've had fun donating school supplies to a local drive.  And I wanted (and needed) a new lunch bag.  I whipped this one up from a pattern in this book.  I love the way it works and the size. You can see below that I was able to carry a sandwich, cheese stick, yogurt and container of granola.

The way the bag works is cool - the handles allow you to tie it off and secure everything snugly.  This works great for my bike commute. 

Now for those of you with a focus on details, you might notice my raw edges are showing.  I messed up.  Nonetheless, it works fine!

Wildness in the City

The DH and I recently discovered a forgotten nursery, a wild spot in the midst of the city!  Roses escaping...reaching for the sky, the sun, the rain.  Up, up, out, out!  I love this bit of wildness in the city! A forgotten place of beauty that delights me.